meitner



E. MEHNEH. RANGE INDICATORB APPLICAION FILED JUNE 18, 1915 Patented Feb.8, 192] 4 SHFETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR, ELE/VER ME/TNER www, y`

Mmmm. WANGE INUIGATOH. APPUCAHON FLED JUNE i8. 1915.

4 55HEETS- SHEET 3.

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Lummen. RANGE INDICATOR. APPLICATION FLED JUNE 18, 1915 Patented Feb. 8,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

AUNITED STATES] PATEy Emmen MEITNER, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK;llarssIGNolz,

NT OFFICE;

" COMPANY, ornnooxnnnnnw Yoan, A commun-N 0F -Ngwyon RANGE-INDICATOR.

Lec-8,1224.

To all 't0/'icm t may cowem.'

-Be it known that I, Dr. ELEMER M EITNER, a subject df the Emperor ofAustria-Hun- -ga 1y, residing at Brooklyn, county ofKings,

angle that each Vtelescope .line to a-central point Range-Indicators,

and State of New York tain` new and useful of which the -follovvingis aspecification.

yinvention relates to apparatus for; in-' dicating the range of adistann'ob'ectg As' is we ll'knowng the accuracy ofsuch instru.- mentsis `greatly increased by employing a long baseline, that is by separatinthe two sighting instruments as far as possi le. The usual methodemployed in these *lon base instrumentsyis to transmit electrica y theWhere the' readings are combined in sqme angles arecombinedto'vobtain-the'range so that no calculations need be made by theoperator. According to -my invention, kI` provide an indicator-which isautomatically actuated from the two'or more sighting'instruments, andwhich so combines the indicated angular positinsfof said instrumentsa'sto furnish a readyjrndicaticn of the range; `I prefer also to providethe indicator with a. mechanical computing 'device to show `the range,which mayoimay'not he set automatlcally from the'ieadmgsof Athe anglefunctions. l

In the accompanying drawings, is a plan view,..paitly in section, pleterange indicaton' Fig.- 2 isa vertical` section of the same on' line2-2of`Fig. l.

1g. 31s a diagrammatic plan'view ofthe? modlied form of one of theindicating dials. section of the same, taken Fig. 4 is a vertical onlinejs 4.-4 of Fig, 3.,. Fig. 5 is a Wiring diagram vof Vthe indicatinginstruments. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing' the mathematical principlesinvolved i'n my range finder. Fig.

line 7.--7 of Fig. l.

'gram of a-modiiication.l Fig. 9 lean enlarged. detail viciv` of aTakingup rst the niatliem'atical and genpsinciples involved n1 myinvention, refeience is had to Figs, 5 and.'- The two lsightinginstiuments A have invented c er- Im rovements 1n makes Witli the vloasemanner byiwhich the. .range 'may be.'obta1ned.`\ l, he mainobjectof-.this invention is to improve iupon thermethod by which *the In practiceit .Figure of my com,

and transmission 71s a verticalsection on' F ig. 8 1s a wir1ngd1a-'.pai't'of the-mechaf msm v illustrated in Fig." 2. 'l

' Specification of Letters Patent.` 1";1f11ted Feb, 8, 1921, applicationmed Innen, 1915. 'serial No. 54,507,

on the ship as to.A ive as long`a base lined as is practicable.. ith atarget located at To THE-spin! anoseoaii and 'B are so placed 55"VVriting this ina 'different form we 4have 'sin C Also since` is foundthat Gais always very being-greater .than 8. Hence We have sin small,never sin C is approximately equaljtothe y C `and approaches l as i a1imit.

Upon examining the equation, it Iwill be .Sen-{tliati neitherthe...A0r.-B" need I`be' 'tra'ilslnittcd` to the iliitr lany great degree 'ofaccuracy v@nice the sine Making theseflqi-V loo of an angle varies veryslowly as it passes through 90, but that the difference A-B must beknown with great accuracy, if dependable results are tobe secured.

Turning now to the mechanical embodiment of my invention illustrated inthe ac,-

companyng drawings, l represents the casing within which aremounted aplurality of repeater motors. adapted to be actuated from a plurality oftransmitters on the two sighting instruments 2 and 3. According to mysystem, I make use of a plurality of the angle ora portion thereof inmuch finer steps. A third transmitter 8, geared to even finer steps, mayalso vbe employed. While my invention is independent of the enact..Y

construction of the transmission system, I

prefer to employ for reasons which will bet are connected totransmitters 4, 5

come apparent the system disclosed in the Acopendiiig application ofHarry L. Tanner, Ser. No. 32,254, electrical position indicator, led.Tune 5, 1915. Repeater motors 9,19 and 11 within casters 4, 5 and 8,while motors 9', 10 and l1I and 8 on instrument 3. The two motors 9l and9 are connected to dials 12, which are adapted to indicate the angularposition (A and B) of each telescope within predetermined limits, forinstance 5. In Fig. 1 only one dial 12 is shown as the right hand halfoit' the figure is broken-away, so that the inner parts might be shownmore clearly. The two halves are substantial duplicates. Motors 9 and 9are also connected to a differential indicator 13, which is designed toindicate the value p A+B Asimple method for accomplishing bothfo't theseresults is to gear the motors by piiiions 14 mounted on the motor shaftsto `gears 15, 15" on the shafts of which pinions carries a pointer 23,readable upon said dial,

It will be evident thatsaid dial and pointer, if properly connected,will indicate' the sum .to show the difference A-B AIB dependence beinghad on dials 12 to show the correct second and third digits. Thus it AiS 95 and B 91, dial 13 would show simply 3, the operator taking theldigit 9 from the dials 12. l Y

lwotors 10 and 10 are connected to one oi' more differential indicators25, 26 'designed As before stated, the transmitters 5 and 5V connectedwith these motors transmit very small steps compared to transmitters v4,4. I prefer to design the indicators so that one complete revolution ofthe dial V27 is equal to the.

smallest subdivision on dial 12, or, in the example given, equal to 5 ofarc. It should also be remarked that the magnitude of this arc is sovchosen as to bel equal to the maximum value of A-B that occurs inpractice.

By this means a very accurate reading is obtained, although only asmalldial is employed. Motor 10 is connected to dial 27 through pinion 28 onthe motor shaft and ing l are actuated respectively yby transmitlargegear 29 on the shaft 30 which carries adjacent its upper end dial 2 7.The ret,

ei'ence'index 31 is mounted on -a sleeve 32 adjacent the lower end ofwhich is mounted a gear 33. Similarly inotor10 is connected` ingl gear33'. Each index is Ydriven from the v opposite'motonso that'adifferential reading will be obtained. Thus gear 33' meshes with pinion34', which is driven from gear 29 by being mounted on the same shaft aspinion 35 which meshes with gear 29, while gear .33 is similarly driventhrough pinion 34 from gear 29 (see Figs. 1 and 2).

It is obvious that the indicator 25 will only indicate correctly whenthe dial movement exceeds that of the index 3l. Thus if the angle B issay 2 and the angle A is 1 the difference will be coi'rectly indicatedby indicator 25 as 1f. If, however, the angle B is 2 and the-angle A is3 the index 31 would pass over the, -zero of dial 27 and indicate4`which is .obviously incorrect. In

P leater than angle A the iiidicatort25 slioiil be read. 0n the short,if the vangle B lis `other hand if the. Aangle A-is greater than theangle B thel movement of the dial 27 (which is moved `in, accordancewith' the magnitude ofthe angle`A`) -will exceed that of index 31' s0that the indicator 26 "will igecaezfi A and B' are leachequaito 180. Itthe' l target is to port the angle B isaequal to the sum of the angles Aand C or the'angle- E is greater than the angle A. It is, there fore,clear that if' either of the angles A or B is.l less than' 180', whichmeans thatthe target. is to starboard, the indicator 26 Y shouldbetrea'd to obtainlthe correct dierence. If either of the ,angles A or Bis greater than i809, whichv means that the target to port, theindicator should be read. The indicators 25 and 26 do not show i thevaluemf'either of theengles A or Bbut by referring tothe indicators 12the operator may tell at a glance whether the angle A (or anglefB) isgreater or less than 180o, de. whether-the' target is to starboard or`fir-26 is to `be. renda. For convenience each of thefdial'slinay belabeled starboard on that side ofthe-dial' between 0o and 160'J 3o andport-bathe side between 180" and 360? If either 'indic'ator v12indicates starboard- (less'than 180) 4the indicator 26 should be i 43teeth'-by-meansof which index 53 may be' l I adjusted. I prefer to setsaid index by hand,

g readto determine the diiference A-B. It

either indicatorl i12 indicates port the indil3 5 cater `25 shouldberead.

Motors' 11 and -11 may be connected to the differential indicators 36,-36 in precisely the samenianner that motors 10-and 10"areconnectedto-their indicators, so that 40 other indicator` (not shown),-whilemotor 11" l l actuates the dial on said indicator and index '55ing this calculation; I have devised a novel Aform fof logarithmicscalejwhich I prefer to make a part of the indicator.; A logarithmic scalel 40graduated in units of length, such as yards, is clamped to the interiorof the case 1. The scale is preterablygraduated in a spiral, so that amaximum variation in range may bevindic'at'ed on a circular scale.Within scale 40is rotatably mounted an anvnulus 41 which carries twodistinct scales,'

one of which','42, coperates with. a fixed port'and vcon'eloquentlywhich indicator 25 a .detailed explanation is unnecessary Motor' 11actuates, dial 37 and the index on the.

eralily to the gears serving to drive thefdials index or reference line66 and is graduated l in degrees to represent the mean anglmA A il, i Y2 7o but which is laid'out according to thelog; A+B

sin

l 2 while the other, 43,*is graduated preferablyA `in thousandths ofdegrees to represent log (A .-B). While I am `aware that the scale 43might be graduated in a spiral similarly to scale 40, so that whentheAfirst convolution of scale 43 were used, the first convolution of 80scale 40 would be read in-l connection therewith, I prefer to show thesaid scale as circular. Annulus 41 is provided on its under surface withan annular guide 47. on which gear yteeth 4Q: are cut, with which a gear45 85 meshes]4 While am aware that theI gear 45 might be drivenautomatically I have, for

the sake of simplicity, shown this ,geardriven by the handle 46 mountedon the shaft of said gear. Guide47 is `also pro- 90 vided with a groove48 which takes over rollers '49 mounted on'brackets 50 extending fromvcase 1 (see Fig. 9). Concentric with` guida 47. is` rotatably mountedby similar rollers 51 airing 52 which carries an index 53 (Fig. 1)readable on bothscalesO and Ring 52 is also providedv with gear as vbymeans of handle -55 similar in operation to handle 46, since muchcomplicationis ayoided by employing hand-'setting instead ofautomatic-setting means.

The indicator may also be provided with a signaling means so that theobserver may know when readings should be taken, that is when bothsighting devices are on the target. This signal is preferably a lamp 56connected so as tobe lighted only when butjj() tons '57 and 58 on thetwo telescopes are both l c1'osed. The buttons 57 and 58 may be man-fual-lycperated. f In order to synchronize the variousdials with theirrespective repeaters',l I 'employ 1154 y Aspring-pressed handles 60,which, on being vpushed in, engage crown gears 61 mounted on. theirshafts with gears 62 connected prefin question. M

AInstead of employing twovsets of indicators 25, 26 or 361:0 subtract Bfrom A and A 'from B, I may employ a single indicator in each instance,such -as shown in'Fi'gs; 3

and 4. This comprises a single dial pro- 1245 vided with two vsets ofcircular graduations 101 and 102, which 'are numbered in oppositedirections, and each of whichconiprises 'duplicate semi-circular scales,A dried cover 103 shown in'dotted lines in Eig. 3 covers 13o ber 108 andare in duplicate as shown, since' each half of the dial 125 indicates acom plete digit, unlike dials 27, 28. Member 1084 is mounted on a stem109 and driven by gear 83 troni a repeatcr'motor, and dial 125".

may be. mounted on a sleeve 110 driven by gear 25) from a secondrepeater motor, neither motor being shown Automatic means may beprovided to turn shield 104 through 180Q when the angles A and Belia-nge i' rom starboard to port and vice versa. This means maycomprise a'solenoid 111, the armature 112 of which is linked to apivoted gear sector 113. The sleeve 114 which carries Sector 104 is alsoprovided with a gear 115 which meshes with saidsector 113. A contact 110located either on thc indicator 1 or on either sighting instrument isprovided to aetuate said solenoid, thereby pulling the sector againstthe action of spring 117 and causing thc'starboard indications tobecon'ie visible.

The operation of the indicator as a whole is very simple. All that theobserver need do is to set scale 42 with referencey to the index 00 soas to indicate the mean angle fundamental equation that reallyrepresents approximately the length of an imaginary base line Il', sothat the shifting ot' aiinulus 41 represents changing our effective baseline.

As stated above, I prefer to actuate my range indicator from sendinginstruments which contain at least certain features shown in saidapplication of Harry L. Tan- (l sin v lner. Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive ofsaid Tanner application are identical (except for a difference inreference numerals) to Figa, 6 to 10 respectively of the British patentto Gillmor vthey7 'with brushes 4 on contacts 70, 71, 70 and 71 No.11,665 of 1915. Theremaining figure of said Tanner application ispractically identical lto Fig. 11 of said Britishl patent and to F ig. 8ofthe present application. Refere e may be had to the said Britishpatent or a more complete disclosure of the details of the transmissionsystem per ce.

The eneral combination is indicated in Fig. 8. ccording to this method,transmitter 4 is directly connected with the sighting instrument B, asbefore. Transmitters A5 and 8 are not so connected, however, but arenormally disconnected therefrom. For governperiod ottime atcertaininterval's. Said' device 84' s overned by a pair ofelectromagnets 75, 6, each of which is in circuit with a switch 57 (58')on one of the sending instruments. When both of switches 57 58 areclosed, then and onl then is a catch 77 on device 84 released, w ichallows drinn 78 to rotate through at least one revolution, thus closingthe motor circuits during this period. The length of this period is soadjusted as to give the ltransmission mechanism ample time to transmitthe indications, during which time the sighting instruments are lockedby electro-magnetic means 7 S), 7 9. According to this system the lamp56 is placed in the same circuit with device 84, so that it is not onlylighted when both switches 57 and 58 are closed, but remains lightedwhile the angles are being transmitted. Preferably the dials and indiceson indicators 25, 26, 36 and 36 are so connected with the repeatermotors that maintain the same angular position res ect to theirrespective follow-up With this system the advantages of a direct gearconnection of the transmitters with the sighting instruments and theadvantages of a -separate hand-setting means are combined, since therepeater motors which reproduce 'the smaller increments of the anglesare only rotated through a comparatively small number of revolutions ata uniform speed, as may be done with a, hand-setting means for cachtransmitter, and since the rotation is secured automatically, without.the necessity for manual setting. l I

The action of the. indicator when o erated from this form oftransmission mec anism 'i i Similarl .4 of a division. Y At theisametime the index 902428". Dials 12, being driven by motors 9 and 9 wouldthen both indicate 900+. Arsr the sig ting instruments were beingadjusted contacts 70, 71, 70 and 71 were, of course-,1 revolved at highspeed, but indicators 25,526, ,'36, and 36 would remain unaifected'until`both instruments hadcome to rest on the, :targeta Each' contactwouldjthen Abe at a defnitevangl'el to its zero' p'ositiondl Uponclosing ,of the circuit through the follow-up motors, brushes 74 wouldbe brought to the same an ular position as the contactslby the shortstztors. In the example 'iven'dial 27'l would be turned so as to rea 3.60Awith reference to a fixed index`-\or since it follows the short-V estpath it would .be turned backward through 5\- 3.6 divisions or.y1.4divisions. dial 2T would 'e turned through 31 would be turned` backward1.4 divisions and index 31" forward through-.4 divisions,

so that indicator 26avou1d read 3.20 and 1indicator 25, 1.8". i Butsince A and B are less I 4patent statutes, I have herein described 'the`than 180, onl indicator 26 would be read.` Similarl in icator "36' wouldread 5( thousan the (.085\-.028)|.and indicator 36 would read 43thosan'dths; of which readings the'former only would be used. Indi-A ctor 13-wou1d read about 2, the .digit 9 being taken fromindicators 12,as explained above.

In accordance Withfthe provisions of the principleof operation -of minvention, tol gether with the apparatus whichl I now consider torepresent thel best embodiment thereof, but Ij'desire to have itunderstood that the apparatusshownis only illustrative and that the'invention can be carried out by other4 means. Also, while it is-designedto use the various features and elements in the combination andrelationsdescribed, some of thesemay be altered and others omittedwithout interfering with themore' general results outlined, .and Atheinvention extends tosuchuse. y

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is: l i

1. In a range finder, thecombinationwith a pair of separated sightinginstruments and .transmissionmechanism for each, `of an in dicatorincluding' a plurality of repeater motors, at least one of which islactuated from each of said mechanisms, and coplerating` means actuatedfrom each motor for .indicating the anglesubtended the target.

ath and at thevsamctime the dials` would al Vo be Vbrought to a similar-positionthrough 'tlietransmitters and repeater mof" motors, at leastone of. which is actuated from each of said mechanisms, cooperatingindicating means actuated from each motor vfor showing thexmean Ianglemade by the A,sighting .instruments with the base line, and'.

means for indicating'- the difference between the angles made by thesighting instruments and the base line.

` a pair of separated sighting instruments and a transmitter for each,of an indicator l 3. In a range finder', the combinationwith iincludingIl a .repeater motor actuated from .each transmitter, an angleindicating device connectedwith each motor for indicating only theincrement of the observed angie 'wit inpredetermined limits, saiddevices beingV so located as'to show the difference 'between theobserved angles;

' 4; In a range a -p'airfof vseparated sighting instruments andtransmission mechanism, for each, of an indicator including a pluralityof repeater `motors, at least one of which is actuated from each *of*said mechanisms, coperating means actuated from eahpmotorr forindicating'the'. angle subtended by the target, and means fordetermining the range-corresponding to said angle. A

5. In a range'finder, an indicator adapted to Subtract the after fromthe forward X target bearing angle, a second indicator ladapted tosubtract the forward from the laf er target bearing angle, and means`for in icatin'g which of saidgjndicators should be @read governed bythe magnitude of said angles. 1

6, In a range `finder, a repeater motor adapted to be actuated from amaster target bearing indicator, 1a second repeater motor adapted to beactuated from another master indicator, an angieindieating dialconnected with each motor, and a movable index for each dial connectedwith the-motor of the otheridial.

7. In combinationa transmitting instrwV finder, the combination with I'lli) , ond transmittinginstrument for transmittingthe bearingr of thetarget with reference to a point spaced from 'saidfirst mentioned point,receiving means connected to each of said transmitting instruments' andmeans operatively connected to both of saidreceiv-- ing means forindicating the difference between said bearings.

8. In combination a transmitting instrument for transmitting the bearingci a target with reference to a certain point, a

second transmitting instrument 'for trans-- mitting the bearing of: thetarget with reference to a point spaced from saidiirst mentioned point,receiving means connected to -each of said transmitting in truin/rntsfmeans operatively connected t 'i if said receiw ing means forindicating ditorence of Y nected to said receiving instruments forindicating the mean of said. bearings.

, 9. Ina range finder, in'combination, a pair of space instruments, arepeater motor connected to each of said transmitters, an indicatorconnected with each repeater motor adapted to indicate the observedangle, transmitters, one for each sighting instrument, a repeater motorconnected to each of said last mentioned transmitters and an indicatorconnected to each of said last mentioned repeater motors, one lof saidlast inentioned indicators being adapted to indicate one of the observedangles -minus a certain value and the other indicator, the other of saidobserved angles minus the same value. I 10. In a range finder, incombination, a pair of spaced sighting instruments, a transinitter foreach instrument, a repeater motor connected to each transmitter, anangle in dicatin devicey connected with each motor K adapte to indicateonly the increment of the observed angle -within predetermined. limits,said device being so located as to show the difsighting instruments, twotransmitters, one for each of said sighting additional i ference betweenthe observed an les, additional transmitters, one 'for eac Vofsaidsightinginstrumentsv and an indicator connected with each of saldlast'named trans.

mitters, each of saidlast named indicators being adapted to indicate acorresponding observed angle.

instruments, a repeater motor connected to v each of" said last namedtransmitters and an indicator connected to each of the last named motorsfor indicating only the incref mfent of the corresponding observedangle, said last cnamed indicators being so positioiied as to show theWhole of the difference between the observed angles. In testimonywhereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 15th day ofJune, 1915. Y DR. ELEMER MEITN ER.

